The Age Old Question...

[omnipresence]

ok, this is probably a stupid question, but if I have some 192 or 128 and I conver them up to 320, would that make the sound quality better or is that like recording a tape onto a cd?

No, please don't do that as it will actually make the quality a little bit worse. You can convert any bitrate mp3 to wav (i.e. lossless) and the quality remains the same but if you convert mp3 to mp3 it is re-encoding the data and removes even more frequencies.

[miniKAT]

ok, this is probably a stupid question, but if I have some 192 or 128 and I conver them up to 320, would that make the sound quality better or is that like recording a tape onto a cd?

No, please don't do that as it will actually make the quality a little bit worse. You can convert any bitrate mp3 to wav (i.e. lossless) and the quality remains the same but if you convert mp3 to mp3 it is re-encoding the data and removes even more frequencies.

Good to know, thanx

[prussell]

I have never felt the need to buy WAV just for listening in my bedroom, would it really make THAT much of a difference?

of course not, and no matter what most of the people say, you don't hear the difference between wav or 320 mp3 on the soundsystems that 99% of the mnml-members here play on every weekend. I have played on so many soundsystems in all kind of venues to know that you only rarely get enough perfected sound that you would hear the difference, and even then it would not make such a difference that a track would lose it's effect on a dancefloor.
But I guess everyone likes discussing the theory of it all.

so, no matter what anyone else says, you're right?
the statements you made are your opinions, not necessarily facts.
i hear differences all the time, and others i know do as well.
your postulation also doesn't take into account the ear fatigue of compressed music. it's not about having the "quality of sound system good enough to match" or something like that; so many lesser quality sound systems sound harsh, making it important to have the highest quality source material.

then again, it's all pointless to tell this to people who've grown up listening to MP3s and/or iPod headphones.....there's no point of reference for quality anymore.

[miniKAT]

So would u say its easy to tell the difference between a 192 and 320?

On a club system?

On a home system?

Or is the loss in quality minor?

[cloutier]

So would u say its easy to tell the difference between a 192 and 320?

On a club system?

On a home system?

Or is the loss in quality minor?

the difference between 192 and 320 is obvious on almost any system.

[miniKAT]

So would u say its easy to tell the difference between a 192 and 320?

On a club system?

On a home system?

Or is the loss in quality minor?

the difference between 192 and 320 is obvious on almost any system.

I dont know, I mean, would u be like "oh sh!t, damn, did u hear that? he just mixed a 192 mp3 with a 320."

I mean isnt that being a bit nit-picky?

Is it gonna kill the mix or the atmosphere? I mean it aint like its gonna sound like u mixed a tape in

[miroslav]

So would u say its easy to tell the difference between a 192 and 320?

On a club system?

On a home system?

Or is the loss in quality minor?

the difference between 192 and 320 is obvious on almost any system.

I dont know, I mean, would u be like "oh sht, damn, did u hear that? he just mixed a 192 mp3 with a 320."

I mean isnt that being a bit nit-picky?

Is it gonna kill the mix or the atmosphere? I mean it aint like its gonna sound like u mixed a tape in

It's probably not going to kill the atmosphere at a club, as half the people probably don't know anything about what they hear and the other half are out of their minds. But I think even on a subpar sound system, the people who have worked with these files would more likely be able to tell than not... Personally, if it's just mp3s we're talking about, I would be very reluctant to DJ with anything below 320. Most serious DJs I know feel similarly.

[good_god]

an aside:
24 bit wavs were mentioned earlier. every wav i've ever bought is 16 bit. i realize that you can adjust this when ripping data from a CD, but am i missing something within the wav marketplace?